On this episode of Empowering Entrepreneurs, we have the pleasure of hosting Nikki Rausch, the Sales Maven. Nikki shares her journey from not initially aspiring to be an entrepreneur due to witnessing financial struggles in her family's tool store, to unintentionally embarking on her entrepreneurial path. She found her calling in teaching people how to sell and started her own business after not landing a sales job.

Nikki talks about her realization that something was missing in her life while working in the tech industry and attending trade shows. This led her to leave her job, interview in a different industry, and discover a passion for networking with passionate entrepreneurs. Recognized for her sales skills, Nikki was encouraged to pursue it as a business.

One of Nikki's biggest fears as an entrepreneur was feeling like she had nothing unique to say. She overcame this fear by giving talks at various events to refine her message and found that discussing buying signals resonated with the audience. She wrote a book on the topic and focuses on doubling down on topics that resonate with people.

The hardest part for entrepreneurs, according to Nikki, is feeling like they have to do everything themselves. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing one's weaknesses, empowering others, and giving up control. While it can be a risk, relinquishing control often leads to positive experiences and growth.

Nikki's business was successful but required a significant amount of her time. However, a mentor challenged her belief that she had to work harder to achieve more success. This led her to pare down her offers and create a group coaching program called the sales management society. By putting the content behind a paid wall, Nikki freed up more time in her business and saw an increase in her income.

Throughout her journey, Nikki recognized the importance of mentors. From her grandfather to mentors in high school and her sales career, they have all played a significant role in her success. She also highlights the value of investing in support, such as hiring an online business manager and an assistant to manage overwhelming email volume.

With her expertise in sales, presentation skills, and background in neurolinguistic programming (NLP), Nikki has built a successful business. She shares how her style resonated with audiences early on, leading to growth and recognition.

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Empowering Moments

04:25 Early work experience, learning and earning money.

08:35 Reluctantly became entrepreneur after unexpected job rejection.

10:25 Mentors shaped me, made me successful.

14:06 Sales professional combines presentations, NLP training.

17:52 Tech worker finds passion in entrepreneurship, sales.

23:45 Trial and error led to entrepreneurial success.

28:36 Nothing unique until speaking about buying signals.

35:05 Restructured business, created group coaching program. Increased income, reduced workload.

39:26 Delegate tech and email to save time.

43:48 Empower, trust, and give up control issues.

45:21 Grateful for team, support, and progress.

49:54 "Love, appreciate, impact, forever, double down"

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Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.

Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for success

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Copyright 2024 Glenn Harper

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

Hello, everyone. Welcome to another edition of empowering pod entrepreneurs podcast. This is Glenn Harper. Julie Smith. Sup, Julie? Living the dream with my coffee, I guess. Well, it is a -- And a cough drop. It is Thursday. I bet that's a good combination. What kinda what flavor you got there?

Cherry honey. Cherry honey and coffee. I'm unsure if that goes well together or not, but we'll see. The MoCA and that should blend really well. Well, we've got a great

guest today. And without further ado, we'll just jump into this. It's Nikki Rousch. It's some kind of special. Nikki loves empowering entrepreneurs with an emphasis on well known businesses. This entrepreneur wants to transform the night terrors that entrepreneurs have knowing they'd have to do sales into a positive experience, identifying your authentic self to help you sell your products and services. This is skill set that many of an many an entrepreneur should delve into. She is the founder and CEO of Sales Haven Maven, a company that one can engage to help them be more authentic in their sales process, which in common speak means should feel confident and passionate about the products and services they sell. And in her words, not feel Iggy. And Nicky is also an author speaker and a podcaster. Thanks, Nikki, for being on a show.

Thanks for having me. So, Nikki, I want you to know you you guys sent this nice like, guest bio over, and we so appreciate that.

But the stalker in him couldn't use it. He had to go out on his own and see what he could, you know, find on you. So you know, bear with us if we missed anything. I was No. I I thought it was great. I love when somebody writes a different bio for me because, you know, it's interesting to hear what What's what stands out? Well, it's funny. I've you know, I couldn't get the password thing to work. I couldn't figure it out. Again, I'm very tech savvy, as you can tell. but I couldn't get the work. So I just said, you know what? I'm going straight to the dark web, and I'm gonna find everything I can know about Nicky. So I got all kinds of goodies here. Perfect. I can't wait to, like, hit me with it. Is the best? Well, the first -- You don't even know what's out there on you. No. You know, I'm just kidding. I have no idea. It's impressive. I'll tell you. It's impressive. So what we'll always like to do is to try to figure out a little bit about, you know, where you came from, what's going on. And and near as I can tell, some point in time, you might be in Boise, you might be in state of Washington. I'm guessing they're the straight Straits of Wanda Fuka, but I'm not quite sure. And and so I'm trying to figure out where where you grew up. Where are you from?

I grew up in Boise, Idaho. I lived in the Seattle area for 27 years, and I am back in Boise and have been for the last 3 years.

Wow. So the question on the table is, yeah, obviously, you went to you went to Washington State near a husky, and I'm trying to figure out You know, what's a better mascot? A husky or a Buckeye? because we're from a house state. Do you know and that's a toughie. I know.

Yeah. I feel like I can't really argue with your I'm a I'm a moderate. Like, I'm not gonna get into that with you because how could I save minds better? Right? Like, Well, we we have a -- Hello?

Yeah. We have a poisonous nut, and you've got a cute little puppy dog. So I'm guessing you're the puppy. -- puppy. Yes. That's great. It's true. It's true. So in in Boise, Idaho, I mean, what made you, you know, kind of upbringing did you have? Did you at work when you're a kid where you Did you just go play sports? What did you do growing up?

No. Growing up, I I worked most of my most of my life. I also dance. on the dance team. I actually got a scholarship to Boise State for the dance team and did that for a couple years before I transferred to U Dub. And, yeah, I had the kind of childhood where it didn't come from We joke in my family. We we we talk about being white trash. Like, I grew up pretty poor and always have worked since I think I've had a job since I was fourteen.

I don't think there's been a time when I maybe maybe a couple months in a transition, but the most part, I've worked since I was fourteen years old. That's what it's all about. Right? Because if if you don't learn how to self sufficient yourself, then what are you gonna do? You're gonna depend on somebody else. and not be your best, so that's never gonna work. But, you know, I love I love white trash. I grew up just the same way. It was it was I my first job was at 9, so I know exactly what you're talking about. It's one of those things. Now we're you know, when you had were these just regular jobs, like working for somebody, or did you have your own little side hustle as an entrepreneur?

I really didn't have any side hustles. It was always working for somebody else. My my grandfather, my dad owned a tool store. So honestly, I started working there when I 10. I I got to learn how to, like, make change at the cash register and, you know, all that kind of stuff. And then at 14, I worked at a dental office. And by 17, I was working for a pizza company, and I was also the the activities coordinator for the drill team, which meant I was in I was in charge of all the fundraising and helping all the girls raise money so that they could take the trips and pay for their, you know, outfits and all all of that kind of stuff. And so that was really I'm gonna say that was the first time that I really understood the power of money and raising money. and what money could do because I worked so much that I had so much in my account. Like, you didn't actually to keep the money like that you earned -- Right. -- in that particular position, it went into the organization, but it got to pay for tour you know, towards your trips and they things like that. And I worked so much that I paid for, like, 3 other girls trips that couldn't afford, you know, their parents' couldn't afford to pay for them to do stuff. My parents certainly couldn't afford to pay for me to do stuff. So that was the, like, kinda journey. And then when I moved to Washington State, one of my first jobs there was it was my first commissioned sales job. And that's when I got the bug for sales because I was making minimum wage. This was a while ago. So minimum wage at the time was, like, 4:25 an hour or something. Solid. And I could usually double and triple my income in my, you know, 4 to 5 hour shift just because I could sell enough that once you sold a certain amount that you started making commission, and I just got the bug for, like, I like to be able to control my income, and

sales was a way to do it. And then my whole career has been based on that. when you were when you went to school and you got a bachelor's in business, what was your major in? I'm gonna accounting Something fun like that? No.

No. It really was business administration and the focus. The the program actually that I was in that I graduated from. I I we it was a very small group of us. It was a special program that they had just started for working students. And I think we were the only graduates of the program. It lasted 3 years, and then they discontinued it. because I don't think they had enough people wanting to do it. So it was really heavily focused on business. And, actually, it was from a college project. that I got my first professional job, and that's what started my career in the tech space was had a college project where we had to go out into a company and see, like, make connections there. We had to have not know anybody at the company. So we had to build rapport. We had to essentially convince them to let us come in and interview somebody in every single department, and then we had to put together this huge. Like, the our whole grade was this one presentation. And the company that I ended up going and we did this kind of whole study around their business and how they did business ended up eventually hiring me. And that was my per my first, like, truly professional sales position. And I worked my way up in that company. I started a entry level,

dialing for dollar sales rep and became their national sales manager. So -- So -- -- it couldn't work for college projects. It's isn't it funny. It's it's not who you know, who knows you, and you make those connections, and they they they set you up. So you're one of those people that worked all the way through college and went to school same time. Sounds very familiar. But even at that time, you weren't really thinking you wanted to go to school, learn something, and go to work for somewhere. You really weren't thinking you wanted to hang out your shingle and do your own thing. Correct?

Yeah. I really didn't have aspirations to be an entrepreneur. I think because I saw my my grandfather and my dad have this tool store, and they worked so hard, and they really didn't make any money. And, you know, we were always struggling. My dad always struggling, you know, okay. It's the end of the week. We can't go grocery shopping. We don't have money for groceries. And and so to me, it just felt like a really hard life. And I liked making money and I liked being able to control that. And so my I really fell into my entrepreneurial journey. I was kind of at a place in my life where I was ready to do something different. I was feeling like maybe there was something more out there for me, but I didn't really know what that meant. And I was helping to grow somebody else's business and somebody who I was kind of helping on the side grow her business, pulled me aside and said, like, why aren't you teaching people how to sell? Like, what you teach, it works, and it's it's so helpful. And I And I was like, I don't think people will pay me to learn how to sell. And she's like, no. I I really think people will pay you, Nikki. And at the time, I was actually interviewing for another sales position. And I was in the final, like, down to the final three people. They were interviewing doing, and it was a long interview process. And she said, if you don't get this job, will you just try it? Will you just try to start a business and see and just teach people selling skills. And I was so confident that I was gonna get the job that I was like, okay. Alright. I'll make that deal with you. And then I didn't get the job. So

My business was really born out of that. So we're into it. So do you think growing up, you know, your upbringing and how hard you've worked and just all of those factors Who do you think was an instrumental mentor into where you are today?

I've had a lot of mentors in my life, and I'm really mentorship to me is such a primary and I learned this at a very young age. I didn't have a happy childhood, and it wasn't a particularly easy childhood. And so my first ever mentor was my grandfather. He was the first person that ever took any kind of interest in me and and recognize that maybe there was something about me that was different than all the other kids. around. And so he really kind of instilled in me that I was smart, that I could do things that other people couldn't do. So he was my first mentor, and then I had this incredible mentor in high school. And then, you know, in my sales career, I had some really incredible mentors, but one in particular who again kinda singled me out. And I think it was because I asked a lot of questions. And not only did I ask questions, but I was a good listener. And I was I was so interested in what this person had to say And I was willing to incorporate the things that he was sharing with me, and I was having success with it. And so for 20 years, I had this credible sales mentor he he has passed and but he made this huge impact on my sales career. And so every time I was thinking about changing jobs or if I was gonna apply for some new position within the company I was working, he was always my first call because I always wanted to know. And he gave me all that time and attention. you know, he was willing to talk things through with me. So mentorship for me has been absolutely I would not be here where I am today. without my mentors. And I would say that, you know, the saying, like, we stand on the shoulders of giants, I have stood on the shoulders of some incredible giants.

So tell me a little bit more about the person who made that deal with you, though, that if you didn't get the job, you had to go out on your own because they that had to be a impact and take you, you know, you maybe wouldn't be where you are today without that deal.

Yeah. That's true. I actually dedicated my book to her. Her name is Lisa. And she she was somebody who we were commuting together to, like, networking events. as she was growing her business. And so in the Seattle area, you know, traffic is horrendous. So your commute tie It's like sometimes, you know, you're in the car for 2 hours each way together. And we would sit in the car, and she would just ask me questions that I would just give her, you know, off the cuff answer around sales, around growing a team, around motivating her team, and and she she was working for a company that she would go back and she would implement these things. And her sales were growing so much that the CEO of her company called her and asked her what changed. Like, something's different. Like, your sales have really grown. You've brought on these new, you know, team members. And she said, oh, I'm working with a sales coach. but I wasn't a sales coach. I was just me in my car, giving her answers. And so she she kinda facilitated some things. She facilitated a meeting with their director of sales. They ended up hiring me to speak at their national sales convention as their keynote speaker. And, again, my business was just kind of born out of these connections and these people who were encouraging me.

So how did you go be a a all of a sudden, you're a keynote speaker that quick. Like, I mean, there had to be a little bit you know, most people are terrified about public speaking in sales in this. And here you are just like, yeah. I got that. How did that happen? How did you have that confidence to just say, you know, whatever. I'm just gonna go do this thing.

Well, there were a couple things that happened prior to that. So the position that I was in, the the industry that I came from, the tech space, One of the things when I went to the at some point, I went, like, worked my way up to what the manufacturer level. So I was working for Hitachi America, one of the largest companies in the world. And I was their top producer in North America in the in the division that I was in. And so I was doing a lot of presentations. So my job, a lot of times, I was giving you know, 5 presentations sometimes in a day, like, multiple times a week. So sin like, sitting down with people became very easy, but also standing in front of a room, I was just it was that repetition, like, building that muscle memory. So I had done that And then also while I was working for Hitachi is when I got introduced to neurolinguistic programming. I don't know if you're mires that term, but it's essentially the study of communication. And I dug in deep with with NLP training. I went through 2 years of NLP training, like and this was something I paid for on my own. My company didn't pay for this. But 1 week in the month for 2 years, I would get on a plane and go spend 2 days studying NLP and became, you know, a practitioner and then became a master partner of neurolinguistic programming. And then I started assisting when I wasn't traveling. I because I was a traveling sales rep, so I would travel all week and then be home on the weekends. And I started assisting my NLP teacher who had since moved up to Washington state on the weekends. So I was using all these skill sets that I had. I I had learned to present really well. I had learned neuro linguistic programming, which is, you know, again, if you haven't heard that term before. It's really the narrow part is how we process information in our brains. linguistics as language, and the programming part is that habits and patterns. And so when you can learn how to adjust your style, put people at ease, when you can learn how to choose your words in a way that will have the biggest impact and the most most influence things get easier in a in a conversation. So when I started my business, it was I was able to just combine my sales experience and all my presentation experience with my background in neurolinguistic programming. And I was really, again, just really blast and lucky that this person recognized in something in me and that her company was willing to give me this chance. They asked me to come and speak. And let's be honest, like, I was in the very beginning stages of my business. What they paid me was next to nothing to do it. So, you know, they got a bargain and And their their people were they had never heard anybody talk about sales. Like, I talked about sales, and they were really excited. And My style really resonated with them. And so my business again just kind of continued to just grow from there.

It's it's weird that you tell that story because what I found on the web was that when you were working at Yamaha, you were a leader of 1 of the street bike gangs and that's where you learned all your leadership shows from and how to sales to bring people to join the club. So that's just odd that you went that direction. hey, that's okay. You can't leave everything you read.

Now Yamaha's gonna be like, what?

So at what point were you, like, okay. I am ready to jump into this sales thing -- and leave, you know, what you had been doing almost your entire life.

It it really kinda you know, it's it's like you have no moments in life where something changes, and sometimes it comes out of the blue. And for me, it did. I was in the tech space, one of the things that and when you work in technology, you do a lot of trade shows. And I counted 1 year I did a 120 trade shows in 1 year. In 1 year? Jeez. In 1 year. It's, like, insane. Maybe it was a 100. It was a 100 trade shows in a year. So that I mean, that's just it's like you're just always at trade shows. And after doing that for so many years, I remember when Saturday morning setting up I was in San Jose, California, and I was setting up for yet again another, you know, one day trade show. And we were in this huge room, this huge, like, auditorium. And I remember looking around, and I was, like, going, like, booth to booth to booth to booth. And I realized in that moment that I actually knew somebody in every single vendor booth. And I thought to myself, oh my Gosh. I'm about to turn 40. I know somebody at every single booth. Do I wanna be standing here talking to these same people on a Saturday morning? when I turned 50. And the answer was no. Not that I had anything against those people. They're all low lovely wonderful people, but it just felt like my world felt very, very small in that moment, and it just it felt like there was something missing. and I didn't really know what it was. I just knew something was missing. I wasn't particularly happy at the company that I was working for. And I just thought there something's gotta change. There has to be something more out there for me, and I had no idea what it was. And I ended up leaving my company with really no safety needs. I didn't really know what I was gonna do, but I knew I needed to do something else. that was when I started interviewing for this other position. And it was a different industry, another sales position. But at the same time, I was helping to grow somebody else's business on the side, which was my NLP teacher. And that's when I started hanging out with entrepreneurs. is I was helping to grow her business, so I was attending networking meetings. And when I would go to these networking meetings and I was meeting these super cool, like, in incredibly passionate people, and I recognized that what was missing in me was what all these people had, which was passion. They were super passionate about what they were doing, their intention, and their the impact they wanted to make in the world. And I just felt empty inside, honestly. And I just thought maybe I could, like I I was always like, maybe I could, like, rub up against these people and some of that passion would, like, rub off on me. And so I didn't really know where I was going with it. I just knew I wanted to be around people that were really passionate And and again, it was just from attending these networking meetings, getting to know these different people, this one woman who we it made sense for us to commute together to these networking events and for her to start to recognize that I had some skill set that I didn't really think people would pay money for, which was selling and doing in a way that made it really easy. And, you know, she just kept encouraging. and, like, asking questions and I always have answers. If you ask me a sales question, I have an answer. And I usually have something that's easy for somebody to implement or easy for somebody to say or do and and for somebody to recognize, like, people will pay you money for this. And I thought, well, we'll see. And what I realized is that I get to now hang out with the coolest entrepreneurs. I get to spend time around really passionate people And I get to share something that does make an impact and does make a difference in people's businesses and in their lives. and that feels like a calling to me.

You know what? I try to piece together these dots in this I mean, So here you are growing up, and you're like, dad's in Ontario, grandpa's entrepreneur, but they're really just small business owners, and they're working hard. And they're really there to help people that really weren't there to make money because they just didn't know how to put that together. And that's no disrespect to them. They just didn't put it together. Right? They just thought they had to do this thing this way. They had no knowledge because they didn't go anywhere. So then you decide, well, I don't want that. So I'm gonna go get educated. I'm gonna go work for somebody. And then all of a sudden, you have that moment where I'm out. And then, in a chance, whatever, you rub shoulders with people that have taken what your dad and grandpa probably wanted to do at some level, probably a little bit higher and above, and you saw these people doing it, and you're like, oh my god. That's it. And there it is. Like, in that, you you ran from it, and then you stumbled back in, and then you're all in and double down on top of it. That's pretty cool.

Thank you. Thank you. And nobody has ever said that to me. So I feel really touched by the way you just framed that. Thank you. You're yeah. It just And that's the thing. All entrepreneurs listening out there. Like,

you just never know an opportunity is gonna knock. You don't know where it's coming from, and so the answer is always Be curious. Keep options open. Always meet people. Don't stay in your own space, and just try to meet as many people as you can because you just never know. we want you to stay in your own lane. Wow. That's really hard for me. I'm I'm all over the place, but that that's that's how I gotta roll. Right? Can't put me in a lane changer thing. So I'm curious

personally, and I'm sure our listeners are too. So you go and you speak at this sales conference, you've kind of committed to making change in your life to doing something completely different. You have basically this mentor who's given you this opportunity to kind of take your business and run with it. What happens next?

Well, now it's a lot of trial and error. So again, one of the things that I recognized really is that I didn't know how to be an entrepreneur. So I hired a coach. Like, I'm I am somebody who always will invest in myself. I know that when I invest in myself, I get a return. So I hired a coach who had made some suggestions about, okay, Nikki, you to have some offers. You need to you know, he had suggested that I put together a course. So I spent some time and I put together a course. I continued to network. continue to offer people opportunities to just get like a really you know? At the time, I was offering strategy sessions. When I first started, and the price that I was offering them at was, you know, laughable because you I would have never ever stayed in business. you know, selling selling them for the price that I was selling them for. Like, there's no way it wasn't sustainable. But it it allowed for me to start to build that know, like, and trust. And I always will also say, yeah, I say yes to just about anything. If somebody asked me to do something and especially if I've never done it before, I will say yes to it. Not like, oh, yeah. I'm an expert at it, but I'll be really candid. Like, I haven't, you know, I haven't done this before, but I'm willing to try if it's something you want me to do. And that was when so I started getting asked to speak And I and I started this having this class so people started signing up for the class. I was doing these strategy sessions. Worked with that coach for a while. found that, you know, I kind of got everything I could out of that coach and then, you know, took a break and then moved on to the next coach. that pushed me to do the next thing which was to implement some VIP, you know, like, high ticket offers. into my business, and that was a big game changer. And one of the other things that she had said to me during our VIP day, She looked at everything that I had created in the last I think it was about 2 years into my business. And she said, you have too much content. You're not allowed to create content for the next year. You need to repurpose everything that you've already created. And I remember I I was in I her RVIP day was in Portland, and so I had a 3 hour drive home that night at the end of our VIP day. I couldn't even listen to the radio. I was so stunned that I just drove home in silence thinking this this could sink my business, but I hired her. this is the advice that she's giving. I need to try to figure it out. And it was one of the best lessons because I learned how to repurpose content and turn it into other offers, turn it into other ways to, you know, build influence out in the marketplace. and and put together these VIP offers. And I remember, you know, that the first time I talked about the VIP offer I had three people sign up. And I was like and this was the most amount of money that anybody had paid me at that point in my business. And I felt this huge responsibility to really deliver. And from those VIPs, I I people just kept saying yes. And so the price just kept going up, and people kept saying yes. And the price kept going up. But what it did is it helped me take all this content and put it in more of a context. And from that, I created what's now my signature framework around a sales conversation called The Selling staircase. I wrote my 3rd book around it. And so I started teaching this step by step approach to a sales conversation but it all came from having created all this, like, random content and then not being able to create any more content, work with VIPs from there, figure out what was the thing that they most needed and then just continue to hone the message and hone the

the offers, and the business has continued to grow from there. So I think one of the things you you you had two things that we normally talk about, and the the first one is that as an entrepreneur, you can't be intimidated by having to pivot and do something different. You didn't fail. You didn't it didn't work. You just you were like, oh, I gotta do something different. And not only did you pivot, but you kind of had to embrace it. Right? and and that embracing us something is very uncomfortable when that gets back to the whole the fear. Like, oh my gosh. What is my biggest fear that I have to overcome? What do you think was your biggest sphere, was it initially getting I must be in front of people going on your own, re node content for a year. I mean, a creative person to say shut down creative juices is a really hard thing to do. Right? You're like, well, that's what I do. I have new ideas every day. What was the biggest fear you think you had to overcome?

Just being really candid. I think my biggest fear was that I didn't think that anything I had to say was unique. You know? And so be because that was unique like, I just felt like it's all been said. It's all been done. What could I possibly bring? to this that people can't find somewhere else. And this this like, the thing that really was a transition for me was In sales, I so I put together a talk because I started getting asked to, you know, to give these talks at networking events. And and again, I said yes to everything. Like, I remember giving talks at a Mexican restaurant where, you know, they're trying to serve the dishes. And they're like, who had the enchilada while I'm up there speaking? You know, they're yelling over me and you know, speaking at a place where they had the music blaring so loud that people couldn't hear me. Like, I've spoke everywhere and said yes to everything. just to kinda hone the message. But while I was speaking, one of the things I started talking about was buying signals. and that people have buying signals. They give you buying signals and what you're supposed to do when you get a buying signal. And I remember people started, like, I felt really intimidated about even talking about buying signals because I thought people would go like, yeah. Duh. Everybody knows that, Nikki. That seems really dumb. I remember the first time crafted the talk before I gave it. I was in tears actually before I had to get up on the stage because I just thought people were gonna laugh me off the stage. I thought they were gonna go Who is this person? She's such a fraud. She's she's not saying anything unique. And it's just the same old, you know, regurgitated garbage about sales. Well, buying signals took off. People were like, what? There's buying signals that people give. What are you talking about, Nikki? What should I say? What should I do? And I started giving these really specific examples about, like, here's a particular buying signal somebody asks you about your price, you know, just give your price. You give your price. You issue an invitation and giving really concrete examples and language around it. And people were blown away by this this idea of buying signals. Now I don't think that was particularly a unique message, but it was the way I was delivering it. And it was to an audience that were like, I've never heard anybody tell me about the before. I didn't know. I was missing sales. I was walking away from business all the time until I started talking about it. And that was a that was a transition that was probably my biggest fear was that I had nothing to say that was unique. And then when I just started getting out and talking about the things that I knew worked, people would give me feedback about what were the things that they were the most, like, shocked about or the most surprised or the most, like, what Like, this is I didn't even know this when it came to sales. And and I I will say because I'm naturally curious, I'm always interested in one of the things that light people pull up. And then I'm gonna double down on that. That's gonna be the thing that I talk about the most. That's gonna be the thing that I focus on. So the second book that I wrote is just about buying signals. Like, I wrote it thinking, like, if people don't know about this, I'm just gonna put it into a book form. They can buy it for $10 and learn it. They don't even have to have me come speak. They don't have to take a class from me. They can just learn buying signals. and it will change their business. And so I think it's really about being willing to say things that you think people

might laugh laugh at you for. Well, I think that's probably the the thing is that never assume that people know what you're gonna talk about because -- Yeah. -- the the the information flow, the generational thing, the group of people, that's all different. Right? So you stay true to yourself, and that's Julia likes asking the question about the superpowers. Do you wanna hit her with that? because I I think we know what it is, but let's ask. Yeah. So what is your superpower?

Well, I'm gonna say in my business, the thing that I've learned truly is my superpower, is my ability to say things in a way and frame language in a way that lands softly to the other person that makes them more inclined to one engage. And, again, I didn't know this. I didn't know I had the superpower until I started offering clients feedback on the way they were communicating with their clients. And I was like, oh, no. If you send that message, that's not gonna land the way you think it is. Let me look at it. Let me tweak it for you. Let's change this sentence. Let's get rid of all these I statements. Let's do these little tweaks to your message, and my clients often come and they're like, Nikki, they responded right away. They said yes. They and and it's like, yeah. So I'm gonna say my superpower is being able to make adjustments to language so that it lands softly to the other person, and they're more inclined to wanna engage.

I'd say it's probably that You'd never give up either. I'd have to say that, you know, you just even though you had all those self doubt, said, who's gonna want this? Everybody's doing it. You still knew you had something. Right? And you just I don't know if it was in your gut, your heart your brain. I don't know what it was, but you still had this thing. Like, I just know I'm onto something, and, ultimately, it's just you. It's your it's your stick. Right? It's just who you are. And then once you figured out that you're never gonna give up and you're gonna keep out there doing it, all of a sudden, you found the one thing somebody was like, well, they start asking you questions back, and then bing bing, here you go. I I think that's the coolest thing. Like, 99% of the people would have given up years before this. because they're being told no. They don't know what they're trying to accomplish. They don't they didn't believe in themselves. And so for you, I just think you know, whatever that thing is that made you believe in yourself that you had something, even though you doubted it. Right? But you kept going. You kept going. You didn't give up. You didn't quit. that entrepreneurs, please, if you're listening to this, don't don't ever give up. Keep trying to find that thing because it's out there. And speaking of giving up, you know, we talk a lot about Peaks And valleys.

And, you know, we think you learn a lot in the valley to be able to get to your next peak and especially entrepreneurs. Right? You kinda you kinda ride that. What do you think was a pivotal valley in your journey that really sets you up for one of your greatest peaks.

I remember years ago, that my business had reached a certain level of success that required an tremendous amount of time on my part. to actually, like it was so much tie it was, like, time for money. And and I remember listening to somebody who was talking about how she built this, like, multi eight figure business and how she did it. And I was really surprised because The idea of trying to work any harder felt like I couldn't. Like, I was at capacity. Like, I couldn't work any more hours. I couldn't do any more things. And, again, a mentor kinda showed up in my life, and she was like, why do you think you need to you need to be the one that has to work so hard? What if you figured out a way to still deliver the things that you wanna deliver that doesn't require any more time? And so that was a time where I had to take a real step back and start paring down my offers. and what I was what I was willing to do with clients and for what amount of money. And what I found was I I built this group coaching program called the sales management society. And instead of doing these one on one type work, or or offering classes this this particular class that I had taught for years. I realized I could take all that content. I could put it behind a paid wall. I could have this group coaching program. People could access the content. I didn't need to keep teaching it live. And it would allow for me to free up time in my business so that I could like, really breathe. And that was a turning point. I went, you know, from, like, barely making 6 figures. to then skyrocketing into multisick figures and working a lot less. So that was a turning point of feeling like I don't think I can ever build a 7 figure 6 you know, multi 6 figure business even at that point because I just can't work anymore. I I can't I there's no I got nothing more to give. But once I figured out that, oh, I could pare down these offers. And I I I also figured out that I I wanna -- my offers to feed my other things. So if I was gonna have the group coaching program, it needed to feed the private coaching. And the private coaching should feed the group coaching program. And so that was a that was a big dick, like, change, honestly. in my business because I I realized that it didn't have to be a 1 and done client. These clients could stay around. They could still get value. They could still get support from me. but there there was a different way to do it.

So I Jill, did you give her our our list of questions prior? because, like, This is and all the ones we've done is just like it's like, you know, it's it can't get any easier. They're set throwing softballs here. And -- Oh, am I? Okay. Yeah. And the reason why that because what you kinda just segued into your your valley that created this is that when you made the decision from doing business to building a business. And as an entrepreneur, your dad and grandpa were doing business and they were at capacity. They couldn't work anymore. They just the sales weren't there, but they couldn't do any more time. You reached that point. And you're like, well, I can't sustain this. And then you had the kahunas to say, hey. I'm gonna now build a business, then you change the whole thing, and then look what happened. and most entrepreneurs, they don't know where they're at in their journey, where they recognize that doing business is is okay. People like that, and it works for a lot of a lot of entrepreneurs. But For some of us, it doesn't work that way. You you have to build something bigger than just yourself, and you recognize that in your valley. How crazy is that? And it wasn't at the peak. It was at the valley.

And so once you started building your business, as Glenn would say, and you were in this, at what point in in your journey did you say, I need a team. I need people around you know, not necessarily business coach, but I need, you know, people around me to help me make this what I want it to be.

Well, I knew pretty early on that I that I needed somebody that could take some of the pressure off of me. And so, like, figuring out what that person actually was ended up becoming what I now call my online business manager. and she she can handle a lot of the tech stuff behind the scenes. And I could like, I was doing it, but I'm not doing it very well. It was taking me a lot of time. So my thing is, you know, am I gonna invest time or am I gonna invest money? And I will always invest money if it will save me time and or make me money. And so I found that with her bringing her on to the team, it was, oh, she could do all this tech. She could do it a lot faster than I could. She could do it better. than I could. And it would free me up to do the things that I'm really good at, which is the, you know, working with the clients delivering on the content. So she was kind of that first hire. And then I I got to a point where I remember recognizing at one point that I was starting to miss really important opportunities in my email. Be because people were reaching out to me. They were asking me to speak. They were asking me to coach with them, and and I was so overwhelmed that I just couldn't even get to the like, I couldn't get to my email. This was about the time where I was starting to, like, hit this valley or the yeah. The valley. it was it was not a good time. And so then I hired somebody to just manage my email for me, which then I grew her into she she actually really grew into a bigger part of my business. She became my assistant for a long time, and now she helps me do client retention things, and she does a lot of the work that not even work, but she does the things that are not my Again, it it's just not a thing that I it doesn't come natural to me. Like, saying really nice things or doing nice things for people. Like, she loves she I would say, like, she's my person who pours love on my clients and pours love on the other team members. She remembers to do those things. Like, I can't tell you what the anniversary of any of our my team members are. I have no idea because it's just not something I it's not important to me. Like, It's important. It's just not -- -- we don't even -- Yeah. It's not it's not something that's, like, front of mind. Right. And so having somebody to do that. And so I'm at now I'm at the where I have 3 team team members that work in my business every single week or really every day. And, again, it was like finding somebody who had a skill set that, yes, I could probably figure out how to learn something, but I'd rather pay somebody who's really good at it. So that I could do the things that actually make money in my business, which is all.

So I I love that answer because to sum it up, and we talk about this a lot, is When you start building a team, you have to be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. And when you're building that team, you wanna make sure that your weaknesses are never exposed and same with teammates. And you literally lobbed another softball because it's exactly what you did without maybe even Knowing or understanding what you were doing, you literally created a team that can never expose your weaknesses, and you can still go to your strengths.

Thank you. I love that you put it that way. And, you know, the I will say as I'm building a team, more of my weaknesses continue to show. Right? Like, they come to the surface. Like, leadership is not a strength for me. So I have invested a lot of money in the last 2 years into a leadership program to think about my team in a different way. And what do I represent as the team and what what should I be responsible for and what what should their roles be and how do I create a team where we're all working towards this? common mission that it's super clear what the mission is. And I'm still you know, I'm a work in progress, I will say. A constant work in progress. So I love this idea of identifying. I don't hire people who are like me because I don't need people that are really good at sales. I don't need people that are really good with the language. I need people to do the things that drive me a little bit nuts and or take me too much time. Well, that's and, again,

this is this is an awesome an awesome guest here. So, you know, it the hardest part as an entrepreneur is, generally, most of them, if you talk to them, they always feel like they're on this island, that it's all them that they have to do everything. Right? And it takes a lot of you know, I don't wanna, you know, courage. It takes a lot of self awareness to recognize that, hey. I have these weaknesses I can't do. However, Even though you know you have them and you don't you wanna empower somebody else, you still we all have control issues. Right? Because nobody can do it better than we can. as an entrepreneur? Nobody can do it. I I'm the best there is. Nobody can do better meat. We just don't have 60 hours in a day. Correct. So at some point, something has to give you gotta give up the control issues. You gotta empower somebody, and then and you can't do it all. And once you're recognizing, it's just kinda like, Jesus, take the wheel. you're good. Right? And it'll it'll work out one way or the other. And the more control and power you give somebody or responsibility and the trust them more quicker, the faster you're gonna know if they're gonna kinda screw you over. Right? If you could just give them little pieces, you get you have to drag that along. Eventually, that can probably hurt you. But the second you give all that away right away I mean, you can't be an idiot about it. Right? But when you put that all out there, you're putting them in his position. They're gonna have to show you what they got, and they're either gonna step up or they're not. But that is terrifying that somebody's in a position that they can do you harm. Right? They could hurt your business, hurt your reputation, but you just have to do it. And then once you do it, you haven't looked back yet, have you? I mean, you're like, this is great.

No. I mean, I'm so grateful for my team, honestly. Every day, I feel like I'm they're they're blessing, and I love them. And I want them to succeed, and I you know, one of the things I do ask them all the time is, like, what what's the thing that you are most interested in doing in my business? What are the things that light you up? And sometimes those things aren't necessarily things I can deliver on, but A lot of times they are. They're things like, oh, you want this? You you know, great. Let me take this off my plate. I'll give this to you. You go run with this. Let's see what you're capable of. And there have been times where there's, you know, had to be some course corrections for sure, and I haven't always hired, you know, the right people. These last few years. I've I've got a very strong team and, you know, and I'm grateful for them. But it is you know, it's a work in progress. I tend to always on the side of trust and believe that people's intentions are true. And, you know, if you prove me wrong, I'll certainly step in to that and, you know, and and course correct. But I always wanna assume that people's intentions are true that they have their best interests at heart. And as long as I'm caring for their best interests, they will then reciprocate. If

you you know, I just gotta I can't believe how fast this is going, but I got I've got one more in there. I think Julie's got one more question. But is there out there you've you've met a gajillion people You've been in the Great Northwest. You're in the the great state of Idaho. You met people all over the place. Who would be your dream client that you would see on the radio, TV, a podcast, in person, go, man. If I could just get that person as a client, I could rock their world. Do you have anybody that you would just love to get in front of and and be engaged by them to help them be somebody? They didn't know they could achieve, but you see it. Right? because you can you see those tendencies. Right? Like, what did you call those in your second book? What's that called? The -- Bying Signals. Yes. So they have them. They just don't know how how to capture them. You can see it Who would be that client that you're like, man, if I could just get in front of that person? Glenn's gonna be so disappointed when you don't name him. You can't say me, unfortunately, because I know you want to. I know you've been stalking me, and I know you want to. But who would that be? Alright.

You know what? I think my my bigger answer is It's the clients of certain people who I see out there that I think these that certain people are doing things really, really well, but the piece that they're still missing is the sales conversation because I think a lot of times business coaches think because they're a business coach. They're gonna be a great sales coach. I don't agree. And I think a lot of marketing people think they're really good at marketing. And so, therefore, that means they're good at sales, and I don't agree. So, you know, just being really candid, like, Amy Porterfield, I think she's amazing at what she does. And I would I I actually have worked with a lot of people who've worked with her, but her clients, I think, are primed with all the amazing great things that she teach. I think that she teaches, I think her clients are primed for what I teach and would take them to a whole another level.

I love that answer. Awesome. So one last question for you. What is your end game?

Well, I think my end game In the biggest picture is to be able to either license or sell my business. license my content and or sell my business so that the content will live on and that it will, at some point, you know, transition and allow for me to transition in my life. I mean, I'm not getting any younger. So at some point, I would I would like to have built a business that sellable.

Well, then what are you gonna do after you sell it?

I'd you can't sit still. That's not gonna happen.

Now I I I have this big you know, my ultimate big goal is from a charitable component. Like, I really would like to be able do gift $5000 a month away. I would like to be able to give that away every month to different organizations that I believe in are making an impact in the world, and we need people who are willing to make an impact. And I think money helps make that move. And I would I would like to gift $5000 a month. That's my big goal.

I love that. And, I mean, you essentially answered it -- with another softball, so we do appreciate that. Oh, okay. There there is no end game. You really don't. You want your business -- your content. You want your impact to forever live on. And then, you know, you took it to even a bigger Bigger picture by saying, you know, you wanna make that impact and you wanna double down on it, and you wanna make sure that whomever it is that you believe in whatever they're doing, and you wanna make sure that that impact lives on. It's bigger than you.

It what you are gonna you know too much. You can help so many people your business, that's a thing, but the other thing is gonna help even more people. So you're never you're not gonna just stop and not go help people. I guess, is the is the point we're making. I it just you can't happen. You're not programmed that way.

No. I mean, I have always said, which this sounds a little bit like my ego getting away, but I've always said, I would like to do something that makes a big enough impact that somebody would like to name a school after me.

Awesome. Well, that is a great another great guest as always, and know, we'd like to give you a a moment, Nikki, if you wanna do a a plug of how people can get a hold of you, that would be helpful. And maybe somebody out there you you speaking their language, and they wanna reach out and and have them have you help them make an impact in their lives.

Well, thank you so much. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for all the questions. This is a very fun interview for me. And for your audience, if you are looking for some support in sales, getting more comfortable with your sales conversations, I'd like to wrap it around a gift for your audience if I can. That'll be a training. This will be my gift to your audience. Then go grab this for free. You can get it by going to your salesmaven.comforward/ee. So this is for your the empowering entrepreneur podcast.

Thank you so much for having me here as your guest. And, Nicky, we'll make sure we'll put that so that the viewers can see it in the show notes.

Thank you. Awesome. Well, thanks again, Nikki. Appreciate you being on and wish you great success. And, you know, try to stay out of Washington too much. You know? They got great coffee over there, but, you know, Idaho's gotta have a clean cleaner air, so you're probably okay. That's true. This was a great interview. Thank you, Nikki. Take care. Thanks for having me. Take care.